Ewan Birney
EMBL
Interim Director General
Overview
All EMBL staff, alumni, and colleagues across our networks are warmly invited to EMBL in Poland, taking place on Monday 7 and Tuesday 8 September 2026 at the Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences.
This free event offers opportunities to explore exciting scientific resources in Poland and at EMBL, while connecting with peers during dedicated networking sessions, coffee breaks, and evening drinks.
EMBL in… events are open to all life scientists. They aim to share EMBL’s latest developments with communities in our member and associate member states, and to highlight innovative research and resources available locally.
By bringing these communities together, we hope to foster dialogue, strengthen collaboration, and broaden access to the many opportunities offered by EMBL, its alumni, and its partners.
Programme
Day 1 | Monday 7th September |
| 10:00-10:30 | Welcome coffee and registration |
| 10:30-11:30 | Session 1: EMBL in Europe: A Shared Mission Chair: Leszek Kaczmarek Speaker 1: Agnieszka Dobrzyn, Welcome Speaker 2: Plamena Markova, “EMBL in and for Poland: Strengthening European and Polish life sciences” Speaker 3: Monika Lachner, “EMBL Training – Developing Skills and Shaping Future Leaders in the Life Sciences” |
| 11:30-13:00 | Session 2: Cells in Action: From Structure to Function Chair: Marta Miaczynska Speaker 1: Rainer Pepperkok, “Single Cell Biology at Large Scale” Speaker 2: Aleksandra Kołodziejczyk, “Microbial Whispers, Hepatic Echoes” Speaker 3: Wioleta Dudka, “How Cryo-EM Enabled the Discovery of Structures Inside Lipid Droplets in Tissues” |
| 13:00-14:00 | Social lunch and group photo |
| 14:00-15:30 | Session 3: Writing, Erasing, Remembering: The Power of Epigenetics Chair: Aleksandra Pękowska Speaker 1: Eileen Furlong, “Genome regulation: Going loopy dissecting enhancer-promoter interactions” Speaker 2: Adam Kłosin, “Memories on Repeat: Using “Junk DNA” to Store the Experience of Stress” Speaker 3: Urszula McClurg, “Why would a cancer cell re-use The Wrong Place, Wrong Time: Fertility Proteins Driving Cancer.” |
| 15:30-16:00 | Coffee break |
| 16:00-17:30 | Session 4: RNA and all That Jazz: Exploring the RNA world Chair: Artur Jarmołowski Speaker 1: Szymon Świeżewski, “Schrödinger’s Seed. How to Stay Alive When You Are 6 feet Underground.” Speaker 2: Andrzej Dziembowski, “A Tale of Tails: Poly(A) Biology in mRNA Vaccines and Beyond” Speaker 3: Wojciech Galej, “The Significant Other: Structural Studies of the Spliceosome’s Long-Separated Twin.” |
| 17:30-18:30 | Drinks reception |
| 18:30-19:30 | Finger foods and poster session |
| 20:00 | Informal light supper for speakers and co-organisers |
Day 2 | Tuesday 8th September |
| 9:00-10:00 | Coffee and tour of institute |
| 10:00-11:30 | Session 5: Decoding Biology in the Age of AI Chair: Bartek Wilczyński Speaker 1: Joanna Sułkowska, “From sequence to structure: a journey through the unknown folds of proteins.” Speaker 2: Paweł Łabaj, “Genomic reproducibility in the bioinformatics era.” Speaker 3: Janusz M. Bujnicki, “Determination of RNA 3D structures using a combination of low-resolution experimental data and computational simulations.” |
| 11:30-11:45 | Short break |
| 11:45-12:15 | Closing Plenary Ewan Birney, “Genomics, Imaging and AI: Three Technologies That Are Changing How We Do Research and its Impact.” |
| 12:15-13:00 | Social lunch |
Speakers
Janusz M. Bujnicki
IICMB
Laboratory of Bioinformatics and Protein Engineering
Agnieszka Dobrzyń
Nencki Institute
Head of Laboratory of Cell Signaling and Metabolic Disorders
Wioleta Dudka
EMBL Heidelberg
Postdoctoral fellow at Structural and Computational Biology Unit
Andrzej Dziembowski
IIMCB
Head of the Laboratory of RNA Biology
Eileen Furlong
EMBL Heidelberg
Head of Genome Biology Unit
Wojciech Galej
EMBL Grenoble
Group Leader
Adam Kłosin
Nencki Institute
Laboratory of Spatial Epigenetics
Monika Lachner
EMBL Heidelberg
Head of EICAT
Paweł Łabaj
MCB Warsaw
Bioinformatics Group Leader and Deputy Director for Science
Aleksandra Kołodziejczyk
IIMCB
Head of Laboratory of Cellular Genomics
Plamena Markova
EMBL Heidelberg
Chief of International Relations
Urszula McClurg
IMB Łódź
Head of Cell Cycle Regulation Laboratory
Rainer Pepperkok
EMBL Heidelberg
Director of Scientific Core Facilities and Services
Joanna Sułkowska
University of Warsaw
Interdisciplinary Laboratory of Biological Systems Modelling Centre of New Technologies
Szymon Świeżewski
IBB
Professor at Laboratory of Seeds Molecular Biology
Chairs
Artur Jarmołowski
Adam Mickiewicz University
Leszek Kaczmarek
Nencki Institute
BRAINCITY President
Marta Miaczynska
IIMCB
Director of the Institute & Head of the Laboratory of Cell Biology
Aleksandra Pękowska
Nencki Institute
Head of the Dioscuri Center of Chromatin Biology and Epigenomics
Bartek Wilczyński
University of Warsaw
Associate Professor
Poster Session
We are pleased to offer an opportunity for life scientists from all career levels to present a poster at the event. This is entirely optional. The poster session will take place on Monday 7th September, 18:00-19:30hrs CET. Please see below for all relevant information. To submit your abstract or if you have any questions, please contact embl_poland@nencki.edu.pl
Information for poster abstract submission:
– Title of abstract
– Authors (please underline the author who will be presenting)
– Affiliations
– Abstract: 250 words, Arial 11, left alignment (not justified text)
Submission deadline: 30.06.2026.
Information for Participants
Venue
Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology Polish Academy of Sciences
3 Pasteur Street, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
How to get to Nencki Institute?
From the airport:
From “Lotnisko Chopina – Przyloty“ bus stop (Airport Chopin Arrivals) you might take a bus 175 (Pl. Piłsudskiego direction) or bus 188 (Gocławek Wschodni direction). Trip should take 16 minutes. Get off at “Szpital Banacha” bus stop at Żwirki i Wigury Street. From there it’s a 10-minute walk to the Institute.
You can buy a ticket from the ticket machine either at a bus stop or in a bus. Only card payments are accepted. A 20-minute ticket costs 3,40PLN.
From the train station:
You might take a bus 517 from “Dw. Centralny 02” bus stop (Ursus-Niedźwiadek direction) and get off at “Plac Narutowicza” bus stop at Grójecka Street. From there it is around 11-minute walk to the Institute.
You might also take a bus 175 (Lotnisko Chopina direction), 128 (Szczęśliwice direction) or 504 (Os. Kabaty direction) from “Dw. Centralny 02” bus stop and get off at “Pomnik Lotnika” bus stop. From there it is around 10-minute walk to the Institute.
By tram:
From the Central Train Station you might take a tram 9 from “Dw. Centralny 08” tram stop (P+R Al.Krakowska direction) and get off at “Och-Teatr” tram stop at Grójecka Street. From there it is less than a 5-minute walk to the Institute.
From the Central Train Station you can also take a trams 7, 25 and 33 from “Dw. Centralny 08” (no. 7 and 25) tram stop or from “Dw. Centralny 09” (no. 33) (Pl. Narutowicza direction) and get off at the last station. From there it is less than a 15-minute walk to the Institute (900m).
By taxi:
You might catch a taxi cab outside the terminal or central train station.
Taxi companies:
- Ele TAXI +48 22 811 11 11,
- Radio Taxi +48 22 19191,
- WAWA Taxi +48 22 333 4444;
- SAWA Taxi +48 22 644 44 44;
- Super Taxi +48 22 19 622.
The cost of the ride from the airport to the Institute should be approximately 12 EUR (50 PLN). The ride should take 10-15 minutes.
Parking
If you are arriving by car, be advised that there is only public parking on Pasteur Street.
Entry to campus
You will have to ring a bell at the gate and provide your name. As long as you are a registered participant, the institute’s security will let you enter.
If you have questions or need any further information, please do not hesitate alumni@embl.org
Suggested Accommodation (information liable to change.)
- Radisson Blu Sobieski Hotel ****
Plac Artura Zawiszy 1, 02-025 Warsaw
Distance from venue: 1,3 km - ibis Warszawa Reduta ***
Bitwy Warszawskiej 16, 02-366 Warsaw
Distance from venue: 1,3 km - ibis budget Warszawa Reduta **
Bitwy Warszawskiej 16A, 02-366 Warsaw
Distance from venue: 1,3 km - Campanile Varsovie ***
Towarowa 2, 00-811 Warsaw
Distance from venue: 1,6 km - Golden Tulip Warsaw Centre ****
Towarowa 2, 00-811 Warsaw
Distance from venue: 1,6 km - Holiday Inn Express Warsaw – The Hub ***
Rondo Ignacego Daszyńskiego 2a, 00-843 Warsaw
Distance from venue: 2,1 km - Novotel Warszawa Airport ****
1 Sierpnia 1, 02-134 Warsaw
Distance from venue: 2,8 km - Sound Garden Hotel ***
Żwirki i Wigury 18, 02-092 Warsaw
Distance from venue: 2,9 km
EMERALD is supported by the Ministry of Science of the Republic of Poland grant no. MNiSW/2024/DWM/272.
Date: 7 - 8 Sep 2026
Location: Nencki Institute, 3 Pasteur Street, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
Time: 10:00
Deadline(s):
Registration: 1 Sep 2026
Contact: EMBL in Poland